DPP v Tran [2026] VCC 119

1. The circumstances of your offending are set out in the Summary of Prosecution Opening dated 12 January 2026, which was accepted by your counsel, and I sentence you on the basis of the facts set out in that document.
2. On 18 February 2025 at approximately 12.50am, Senior Constable Christopher Benson and Constable Moana Hudson observed a 2014 White Toyota Prado (registration DAX783) driving West on South Road, Braybrook. The Officers activated their red and blue lights and followed the vehicle for approximately 2 minutes before it stopped outside a residence on Royal Road, Braybrook. Your passenger, Thi Nguyen (whose charges remains unresolved), exited the passenger seat of the Toyota and proceeded to walk away before Officer Benson asked her to return to the vehicle. You then exited the driver's seat of the Toyota and identified yourself. You presented as nervous and evasive to questions, changing your story frequently about where you were going and what you were doing. This lead to the Officers asking you what was inside the Toyota and if they could conduct a search, to which you agreed.
3. A search of the Toyota was conducted and the following items were located:

(a) A bag containing $16,250 AUD cash in the driver's side front foot well (part of charge 4);

(b) A black box containing $8,050 AUD cash in the boot (part of charge 4);

(c) A bag containing $17,100 AUD cash in the driver's side back seat (part of charge 4);

(d) A zip lock bag containing 1.0 gram of heroin in a compartment inside the boot door (part of charge 1);

(e) A vacuum sealed plastic bag containing 132.7 grams of heroin in a compartment inside the boot door (part of charge 1);

(f) x3 zip lock bags containing 3.9 grams of Cocaine located inside a small black case in the boot (part of charge 2);

(g) A zip lock bag containing 161.5 grams of heroin inside a black satchel, located inside a black backpack found in a black box in the boot (part of charge 1); and

(h) x2 Xanax tablets in a small black case in the boot (part of charge 3).

1. You and Ms Nguyen were arrested. You were searched and the following items were located on your person:

(a) A Victorian Drivers Licence belonging to Brendan NGUYEN inside your right pocket (summary charge 11);

(b) x5 Viagra tablets inside your right pocket (summary charge 12); and

(c) $2,251.40 AUD cash inside your back left pocket (part of charge 4).

1. The Officers transported you and Ms Nguyen to Footscray Police station.
2. You advised police that the Toyota belongs to your brother who resides in Port Melbourne, and that you reside at that address as well.
3. A drug analysis determined that the total amount of heroin located was 295.2 grams, between 77-78% pure (this is the subject of charge 1); the total amount of cocaine located was 3.9 grams (this is the subject of charge 2); the total amount of Alprazolam located was two tablets (this is the subject of charge 3); and the total amount of cash located was $43,651.40 (this is the subject of charge 4).
4. Police conducted search warrants on 18 February 2025 at both your brother's residence in Port Melbourne and your residence in Sunshine North and no items of relevance were located.
5. You were interviewed by Senior Constable Grigg and Detective Senior Constable Maroney at Footscray Police Station on 18 February 2025. During the interview, you, by way of summary, gave the following answers:

(a) You and Ms Nguyen had been in a relationship for a few months;

(b) You were driving the Toyota on your way to take Ms Nguyen home when the police intercepted you;

(c) Initially, you did not realise the police were trying to pull you over;

(d) You said you did not know how much heroin was in the Toyota. You were just holding it for someone and in exchange you are given drugs. Sometimes, you also make deliveries. The person you work for calls you up and tells you where to go. You were taking the drugs located in your vehicle to St Albans.

(e) You were going to attend to that after taking Ms Nugyen home, and she was unaware of the delivery;

(f) You collected the heroin located in the boot of the vehicle from the guy you work for in Sunshine. You don't know much about the person, but said that he supports your drug habit and his name is Tuan;

(g) You had been holding on to the heroin located by police for a few hours;

(h) The cash located in the bag on the front foot well of the Toyota was intended for Tuan. You thought there was $7,000-$10,000 in the bag but you could not remember;

(i) You claimed the cash located in the bag behind the driver's seat contained money you had won at the Pokies;

(j) You claimed not to know about the black bag in the boot. That bag was the bag that Tuan had given you to hold on to.

(k) You found the driver's licence in the name of Brendan Nguyen on the street;

(l) You received drugs from Tuan which you hold for him and deliver to people and in exchange Tuan gives you money and drugs. You said you had only been doing it for a few weeks and had only done 2 or 3 jobs for him.

(m) You have known Tuan for approximately 7 months. You claimed that you owed money to Tuan and that you began doing jobs for Tuan to pay him back the money you owed.

1. You were remanded in custody on 18 February 2025 and have been in custody on these charges since that time.
2. Ms Nugyen was also interviewed and made admissions concerning drugs located on her person at the time of arrest and drugs located in her bedroom during the search warrant at her residence. She denied knowledge of the cash and heroin located in the Toyota.

1. Mr Tran, you are now 61 years of age, having been 60 at the time of offending.
2. I was told by your counsel, Mr Nikakis, that your personal circumstances were accurately described by Her Honour Judge Cotterell when she sentenced you for similar offending on 31 May 2012 and by His Honour Judge Gucciardo when he sentenced you for similar offending on 27 February 2015.
3. You were born in South Vietnam and are the eldest of nine children. Five of your brothers were killed in the Vietnam war. When you were 15, you and one of your brothers attempted to flee South Vietnam. You both failed and were imprisoned. You witnessed many atrocities from a young age and, ultimately, your family's property was confiscated when you were released, leaving you with little.
4. In 1981, when you were 17, you successfully fled the country and reached Indonesia, where you spent seven months in a refugee camp. You came to Australia in 1983 through the sponsorship of another brother. You became an Australian citizen in 1988.
5. Your background can certainly be regarded as a challenging and difficult one, however, no argument was advanced that your moral culpability should be reduced on account of it.
6. Throughout the 1980s, you worked as a machine operator in a factory. In 1990, you opened a fruit and vegetable shop in Yarraville. Unfortunately, this business failed after about one and a half years, leaving you substantially indebted. At about this time, your mother died in Vietnam. These events led to you using heroin in your mid-30s.
7. In 2000**,** you married and this relationship lasted for some 14 years. You and your wife are now divorced. There is one child of the marriage. You have a long-term heroin addiction which impacted on your relationship with your wife and your son. In sentencing you in 2015, His Honour Judge Gucciardo said this:

"Despite asserting in 2012 to the judge who sentenced you in this court the hope that you may beat your addiction and to be a present parent in your son's life, you failed in that endeavour. Your wife left you because of your drug use and your history in these years, as I have outlined, has been marked by the blight of drug use and consequent criminality. Four parole periods since 2009 have been futile and you seem to have inevitably returned to drug use."[2]

1. Mr Tran, you have a long and relevant criminal history.
2. In the period prior to 2012, you have 6 prior convictions for trafficking drugs of dependence, for which you received terms of imprisonment. Prior to 2012, your offending also involved drug possession, dishonesty offences, dealing with property suspected of being proceeds of crimes and breaches of Court orders.
3. Since 2012, you have 7 further convictions for trafficking drugs of dependence.
4. In May of 2012, you were sentenced by this court to 30 months' imprisonment for trafficking heroin.[3] You and your co-accused were investigated by Victoria police for your involvement in a suspected drug syndicate. Mobile phone analysis of your co-accused's phone revealed evidentiary calls and texts, involving sales of both heroin and methylamphetamine. Covert operatives arranged to purchase drugs from your co-accused and you assisted by providing the drugs to fill the orders. You received a total effective sentence of 2 years and 7 months' imprisonment with a non-parole period of 8 months.
5. In February 2015, you were sentenced for 1 charge of trafficking heroin, 1 charge of trafficking methamphetamine and 1 charge of driving whilst suspended.[4] Your offending involved Victoria police intercepting you whilst driving in August 2014. You were drug affected and when you tried to reach for something under the driver's seat, police officers searched your car and located approximately 210 grams of heroin[5] and 30 grams of methamphetamine.[6] Your offending had occurred whilst you were on parole.[7] His Honour Judge Gucciardo stated in sentencing that "you have a long history of a heroin habit, and your motivation for your offending is clear. Your recent history, as is to be expected, bespeaks a person who is not only a user, but who has trafficked to feed his habit probably for potential financial gain."[8] The learned sentencing judge assessed your rehabilitative prospects as bleak.[9] His Honour rejected the submission that a combination sentence was appropriate and added "it is my view that your criminality has now reached a point at which community protection, general deterrence and punishment are paramount considerations."[10] You were sentenced to 3 years and 6 months' imprisonment for each trafficking charge, and 1 months' imprisonment for the drive whilst suspended charge, all of which were to be served concurrently. The total effective sentence therefore imposed in February 2015 was one of 3 years and 6 months' imprisonment with a non-parole period of 2 years.[11]
6. In September 2020, you again were before this court for trafficking offences.[12] On this occasion you were sentenced for 3 charges of trafficking heroin, 1 charge of trafficking methylamphetamine, 1 charge of possessing methylamphetamine and 1 summary charge of dealing with property suspected of being proceeds of crime. The facts of that case revealed that on 8 January 2019, you trafficked 56 grams of heroin (charge 3); on 4 February 2019, you trafficked 28.1 grams of heroin (charge 4); on 6 March 2019, you trafficked 54.9 grams of heroin (charge 5); on 3 April 2019, you trafficked 55.7 grams of methylamphetamine (charge 7); and on 21 May 2019, you possessed half a gram of methylamphetamine (charge 8).[13] The learned sentencing judge (Judge Lauritsen) determined that your prospects of rehabilitation were poor.[14] You were sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment for each trafficking charge, 1 months' imprisonment for the possession charge and 1 months' imprisonment for the summary charge. After cumulation, the total effective sentence imposed was one of 4 years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of 3 years.

1. Mr Tran your offending on this occasion occurred on 18 February 2025. Amongst other things, you were found in possession of 295.2 grams of heroin.
2. The sentencing regime for trafficking offences is quantity based. It has been acknowledged by the courts that the quantity of a drug being trafficked is a significant indication of the seriousness of an offence. In this case, as the prosecution submitted, the quantity you trafficked was some 98 times a traffickable quantity (which is 3 grams).
3. I note that a commercial quantity of heroin, when mixed with other substances, is prescribed to be 250 grams. However, you have not pleaded guilty to, and you will not be sentenced for the offence of trafficking a commercial quantity of heroin. You are not to be, and will not be, sentenced on the basis that you knew or believed that the amount of drug in your possession equated to or exceeded that threshold for a commercial quantity.
4. While quantum of the drug involved is an important factor, it is of course not the sole, or determinative, factor and there are other relevant considerations.
5. Your trafficking charge is limited to one day, namely 18 February 2025. The charge is based on your possession of the heroin on that day. The Crown submitted, and I accept, that you were operating on that day as a "middleman" and your role involved collecting the drugs of dependence in larger quantities and delivering them to buyers. Your role also involved collecting and transporting cash. It was submitted that you were an active participant in the operation. So much is clear. It is also clear that you were highly trusted. The prosecution also submitted that the money located was the proceeds of drug trafficking and known by you to be so. So much is consistent with your plea of guilty to charge 4.
6. It is clear from your answers to police in your record of interview, namely that you had been delivering drugs for Tuan for a few weeks and that you had done two or three deliveries for him, coupled with the cash that was located in the vehicle, that this was not an isolated instance of possession, but rather it was conduct that was part of an ongoing operation. That is, the surrounding evidence provides context to your possession of the drug on 18 February 2025.[15]
7. While I take these circumstances into account in this respect, I make clear that you will be sentenced for trafficking on a single day, 18 February 2025, and you will not be sentenced for acts which do not form part of the charge.
8. Having regard to the above matters, in my view the offence is a serious example of trafficking in a drug of dependence (simpliciter).
9. Given the quantity of drugs involved, I have no doubt that your offending was financially motivated. Given your prodigious drug habit, it is highly likely that some of your financial reward from the offending was to be spent on drugs.

1. You were cooperative with police upon your arrest and made a number of admissions to police when you were interviewed. This is to your credit.
2. You have pleaded guilty and you did so at the earliest possible stage. You are entitled to the utilitarian benefit of that plea of guilty as it has saved the community the time and expense of a trial.
3. Your counsel also submitted that it ought be seen also as an indication of your acceptance of responsibility for your conduct. Given your admissions and co-operation with police, coupled with your plea of guilty, I accept that.
4. I am unpersuaded, however, that you are remorseful for your offending. Your litany of prior convictions for the same offence precludes me from concluding that you are truly remorseful.
5. I have outlined your prior history above and it is on any view an extremely poor prior criminal history. I make clear that you are not to be punished for your prior offending. However, your prior criminal history reveals that specific deterrence has an important role to play in the sentencing exercise. It is also relevant to an assessment of your prospects of rehabilitation.
6. You have the support of a long-time friend, Anna Nguyen. She gave evidence at your plea hearing. Ms Nguyen has known you for 30 years, having met you when you worked at a leather factory. Whilst you lost contact, you reconnected 5 years ago and before your incarceration. She has also contacted you whilst you have been on remand and stated in her evidence that you expressed a desire to remain drug-free. Ms Nguyen is aware of the nature of your offending and is prepared to assist you upon your release, in the same or similar manner as she helped her own partner who similarly has suffered from substance abuse issues. She is prepared to open her home to you and support you when you are released from prison.
7. Your long and sad history of drug abuse, coupled with offending, reflects a pattern whereby, after release from custody, it is not long before you again become involved with anti-social peers, you relapse and reoffend. Whilst I have no doubt that Ms Nguyen was genuine in her endeavours to assist you, I remain unpersuaded that it will materially alter your prospects of rehabilitation.
8. In short, similar to Judge Gucciardo in 2015, I regard your prospects of rehabilitation as bleak.
9. Charges 2 and 3 on the indictment involve possession of cocaine and alprazolam respectively. The maximum penalty for each offence is 5 years' imprisonment, unless the court is satisfied that the drugs were possessed not for any purpose related to trafficking. In relation to charge 2, the amount of cocaine was 3.9 grams. This is not an insignificant amount of the drug. It is more than the traffickable quantity (3 grams). There is also no evidence that you were a user of cocaine at the time of this offence. I am therefore not persuaded that the drugs were not for any purpose related to trafficking. The maximum penalty for this possession offence is therefore 5 years. In relation to charge 3, the Crown argued there was a stronger inference that this possession was for personal use. I am prepared to accept that the alprazolam was possessed for personal use and I will sentence you accordingly. As such the lower maximum penalty will apply.
10. As your last community-based order was in 2006, your counsel ultimately submitted that a community corrections order combined with a term of imprisonment ought to be imposed so you may have access to necessary drug treatment. I am not persuaded that such a sentence would reflect the seriousness of your offending.
11. Trafficking drugs is a most serious crime that must be denounced in the strongest terms. The crime has the potential to cause great damage and despair in our community. Given your long-term drug addiction, you can be taken to have been well aware of that.
12. I regard deterrence, both general and specific, denunciation and protection of the community as particularly important sentencing principles.
13. The prosecution submitted that the only appropriate sentence involved a term of imprisonment with a head sentence and non-parole period. I agree with that submission.

1. Would you please stand, Mr Tran.
2. On charge 1, sentenced to be imprisoned for 4 years and 6 months. This is the base sentence.
3. On charge 2, you are sentenced to be imprisoned for 2 months.
4. On charge 3, you are sentenced to be imprisoned for 7 days.
5. On charge 4, you are sentenced to be imprisoned for 12 months.
6. In relation to summary offence charge 11, dealing with property reasonable suspected of having been proceeds of crime, you are sentenced to be imprisoned for 1 month.
7. In relation to summary offence charge 12, possess a schedule 4 poison, you are convicted and fined $100.
8. I order that 6 months of the sentence on charge 4 is to be served cumulatively on the sentence on charge 1.
9. This makes a total effective sentence of 5 years' imprisonment. I order that you serve 4 years before becoming eligible for parole.
10. I declare 365 days as presentence detention served in relation to this sentence.
11. I make the forfeiture and disposal orders sought by the prosecution.
12. I indicate that but for your plea of guilty, pursuant to section 6AAA of the Sentencing Act 1991, I would have imposed a sentence of 7 years' imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 6 years.

[1] Summary of Prosecution Opening dated 12.01.2026 (Exhibit 1); Criminal history dated 02.12.2025 (Exhibit 2); Prosecution outline of submissions dated 05.02.2026 (Exhibit 3); and Defence outline of submissions dated 03.02.2026 (Exhibit A).

[2] DPP v Tran [2015] VCC 334, para [11].

[3] DPP v Tran, Bao Quoc & Tran, Van Hoa (County Court of Victoria, Judge Cotterell, 31 May 2012).

[4] DPP v Tran [2015] VCC 334.

[5] Ibid para [2]: 198.3 grams of heroin (20% purity) and 13.6 grams (40% purity).

[6] Ibid para [2]: 30.3 grams of methylamphetamine (80% purity).

[12] DPP v Nguyen & Ors [2020] VCC 1543.

[15] Quah v The Queen [2021] VSCA 164, para [40]-[41]; R v Falzon (2018) 264 CLR 361, para [40]-[42].